Targeting Distributed Algae Architectures, OriginOil Launches Mid-Sized Algae Harvester
New size enhances “manufacturing flexibility, efficiency and redundancy,” says producer
Los Angeles, CA – August 14, 2013 – OriginOil, Inc. (OTC/QB: OOIL), developer of Electro Water Separation™ (EWS), the high-speed, chemical-free process to clean up large quantities of water, announced today the launch of its mid-sized algae harvester, designed, with producer input, for distributed algae production.
The new harvester, designated EWS Algae A60, processes 60 liters (16 gallons) per minute of algae water and is ideally suited to distributed architectures. Individual A60 units can each be assigned to manage a pond or bioreactor assembly of up to 500,000 liters. Units can be combined to achieve massively parallel processing capability.
“OriginOil has impressed us with the capabilities of their harvesting system during the early stages of our production ramp. We have collaborated with them during the development of the A60 and we are looking forward to being able to deploy this next-generation harvester on our floor,” said Andrew Greene, president of Garden State bioEnterprises. “The EWS Algae A60 is ideal for our production modules — better than a single central unit — and we plan to install an array of Model 60s during our expansion phase.”
Images of the new A60 design, and a diagram of distributed topologies, can be found at the A60 product page.
“We carefully sized this harvester to meet the distributed processing demands of algae producers,” said Jose Sanchez, OriginOil’s VP of quality assurance and services. “Our clients can scale up gradually, they can shut down an individual harvester for pond stoppages, and they also have redundancy.”
The A60 design is also specifically designed for aquaculture, a new global application for algae production.
“The new A60 is ideally sized to harvest algae product for fish feed. It will soon be in place at our permanent showcase near the Salton Sea in Southern California,” continued Sanchez. “At a time when fish feed costs are exploding, fish farms are looking to adopt algae cultivation in a big way. Not only is algae about a third the cost of conventional feeds, but it is also extremely nutritious.”
“We are implementing new technologies in an effort to reduce the cost of fish production,” said Rocky French, Operations Manager at Aqua Farming Technology, a sustainable fish farm operator near Palm Springs, California. “We have developed many significant innovations of our own, but are very excited about implementing OriginOil’s technology both for treating the water to remove ammonia and bacteria and for harvesting algae for fish feed. The cost of fish feed has tripled over the last decade and is now our highest cost.”
The A60 is a continuous flow ‘wet harvest’ system to efficiently dewater and concentrate microalgae. It can remove up to 99 percent of the incoming water volume and produce a 5 percent solids concentrate, with accessories available for higher concentrations.
Andy Komor, VP of Environmental Water for PACE, which earlier engineered a commercial scale project in Australia for OriginOil, stated, “It is great to see OriginOil algae harvesting technology finding wider applications that fit a variety of customer needs.”